Placed in the heart of the South Asian sub-continent, Pakistan is a country with its own captivating history and cultural heritage. Pakistan was the site for one of the world's earliest human settlements, the great prehistoric Indus Valley Civilization, the crucible of ancient empires, religions and cultures.

The state of Pakistan was established in 1947 as one of the two successor states of British India, yet the land and its people possess an extensive and continuous history that can be traced back to very ancient times. The history of Pakistan for times preceding 1947 sometimes partially overlaps with that of India, Afghanistan, and Iran.